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James L. Kemper
James Lawson Kemper (11 June 1823-7 April 1895) was the Governor of Virginia (D) from 1 January 1874 to 1 January 1878, succeeding Gilbert Carlton Walker and preceding Frederick W.M. Holliday. Kemper was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Gettysburg, in which he was wounded, captured, and later rescued. Biography James Lawson Kemper was born on the Mountain Prospect plantation of Madison County, Virginia on 11 June 1823 to a family of merchants; his father's family came to the Thirteen Colonies from Siegen, Germany in the early 1700s. Kemper attended Locust Dale Academy from 1830 to 1840, attending military classes in the winter, and he graduated from Washington College (Washington and Lee University) after attending some engineering classes at the Virginia Military Institute. Kemper enlisted in the US Army volunteers during the Mexican-American War and was put on garrison duty in Coahuila, Mexico, having arrived after the Battle of Buena Vista. After being discharged in 1848, he practiced law back in Virginia, and he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1853, serving as Speaker of the House from 1861 to 1863. Kemper was also a Brigadier-General in the state militia. Civil War Kemper served as a Colonel of the Confederate States Army at the start of the American Civil War in 1861, leading a regiment as a part of Jubal Early's brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run. On 3 June 1862, after gallant service in the Peninsula Campaign, Kemper was promoted to Brigadier-General, and he fought at Second Bull Run, Antietam, and the Battle of Gettysburg, during which he led his brigade in an assault on Union positions during George Pickett's charge. Kemper urged his men to go for the Union artillery, but he was wounded in the abdomen and thigh by Union musketballs. Kemper fell from his horse and was briefly captured, but he was rescued by his troops as the Confederate attackers began to withdraw. During the retreat from Gettysburg, Kemper was again captured, but he was exchanged for Charles K. Graham on 19 September 1863. He was too ill to hold another field command for the rest of the war, serving as commander of the Reserve Forces of Virginia (with the rank of Major-General after 19 September 1864). In May 1865, he was paroled at the end of the war. Political career Kemper and John D. Imboden worked together as lawyers after the war's end, and he lost the 1870 7th congressional district elections due to gerrymandering. Kemper won the 1873 election for Governor of Virginia as a Democratic Party member, trimming the state budget where possible, advocating the taxation of alcohol, building new public schools, enforcing civil rights legislation (although he did not want for African-American troops to be present at the dedication of a monument to Stonewall Jackson), and pushing for prison reform. After he left the governorship, he returned to farming and to law, and he died in 1895 at the age of 71. Category:1823 births Category:1895 deaths Category:Confederate generals Category:Confederates Category:Generals Category:German-Americans Category:English-Americans Category:Americans Category:Protestants Category:Politicians Category:American politicians Category:Democratic Party members Category:American conservatives Category:Conservatives Category:Virginia Democrats Category:People from Virginia